Two Days, One Night feels awkward to watch. This feeling is a trademark from Belgian writer/director brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Everything they film is hyper-real and represent in your face, immediate situations. This is why I feel personally embarrassed and ashamed as we accompany Sandra (Marion Cotillard, 2013's Blood Ties) as she trudges from co-worker to co-worker almost begging them to help her keep her job. The film is merely one woman’s conversation checklist but it demonstrates a perverse from of psychological torture as Sandra must repeatedly expose how vulnerable her position is and ask each and every colleague to sacrifice their well-being on her behalf. Consider how effective the filmmakers are. The audience makes the same trek as the character on screen and feels almost as awful as she does. I had the same feeling watching the Dardenne Brothers’ 2005 film, L’Enfant. In L’Enfant, a man sells his newborn son to a black market adoption agency without the mom’s consent. Obviously, the Dardenne Brothers do not shy away from contemptible repulsion, yet I felt just as uncomfortable watching a woman plead for her livelihood as I did watching a newborn sold into a crime syndicate.

Two Days, One Night is a study of community solidarity. Sandra took a leave of absence from her job due to an illness. The factory bosses noticed they could accomplish the same level of productivity without her, so they fixed a vote where the workers chose to each take a 1,000 Euro bonus if they agreed Sandra was to be let go. When Sandra points out there was some misinformation involved in the process, the bosses make a cowardly move and place the burden of Sandra’s fate on her co-workers. If the majority of the 16 employees agree to give up their bonuses, the factory will rehire Sandra. Sandra now has the weekend to visit as many co-workers as she can to try and convince them to hurt themselves to save their fellow man.

True to form, the workers’ yes or no votes are not black and white, good vs. evil. A no vote does not mean the worker is cruel and vindictive. These are low-rung, blue collar technicians who do not use their bonuses for ski vacations. They use the money for rent and bills as they struggle to scrape by just as Sandra does. There is a philosophical question bubbling along Sandra’s journey; is there a line between financial and moral choices? Do those suffering under more difficult pecuniary conditions use that as an excuse to make immoral decisions or perhaps is it ethical to further secure the situation for you and yours at the expense of another?

The thick suspense in Two Days, One Night stems from not knowing how the next co-worker is going to react to Sandra’s request. Some are sympathetic to her plight and promise to vote for her, some say they need the money and apologize at her unfortunate situation, and some are outright hostile that she has the gall to approach them and make them feel morally inferior. It is telling that the vast majority of them do not even consider the entire situation of them being forced to vote as wrong. Aren’t decisions such as this a big reason why management exists in the first place?

Marion Cotillard is an odd casting choice by the directors. Their M.O. is to only use unknown Belgian actors so it shows how highly they regard Cotillard’s skills as an actor to cast such a famous, Oscar-winning talent. She is not glamorous though. Sandra wears the same shirt the whole time, there is little to no make-up, and all of these choices lend credence to bare bones, in your face, straight-up acting. Perhaps Cottiard and the Dardenne brothers were meant for each other. They seek raw emotion and no contemporary actress pulls that off better than Cottiard.